


Like the Tail of a Comet

by elfgirl931



Category: Star Wars: The Old Republic
Genre: Adventure & Romance, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-17
Updated: 2016-06-17
Packaged: 2018-07-15 16:23:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7229857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elfgirl931/pseuds/elfgirl931
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Corso Riggs and the intrepid Captain Kinela. Little glimpses into their adventures that we missed in the game.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Coruscant

**Author's Note:**

> Corso and Kinela are still getting to know each other, despite their occasional flirting. They've chased Skavak to Coruscant and get tangled up in the planet's politics despite trying to stay Skavak's trail. One of their missions to the ruined Jedi temple take a potentially nasty turn.

       Kinela had never wanted to take this mission. She tried to stay out of politics, especially where Jedi were concerned, but the senator had looked so desperate. _Please, he was my son_. She couldn’t say no after that, especially with Corso standing right there looking so expectant and then so happy when she accepted the job. 

      And here they were, hunkered down behind chunks of rubble and hiding from a rain of Empire blaster fire. “Next time we see that Senator, I’m going to give him a piece of my mind,” Kinela muttered, ducking back into cover after glancing over. Still too many Imps to get around, and they could hardly go backwards. “All this for a _journal_.”

      “What’s the matter, Captain?” Corso crowed. “Ain’t you havin’ fun?” He leveled his rifle over a crossbeam and fired, once, twice, three times before ducking back down again.

       “He said there _might_ be a few soldiers here, not a whole contingent overrunning the place!” 

      “Yeehaw!” Corso yelled, standing again to lay cover fire against an advancing pair of soldiers wielding vibroblades. Kinela lobbed a grenade towards them and then rolled to new cover behind a pillar. She glanced around to see that they’d eliminated more Imps than she’d thought - only two were left across the empty space of the temple floor, one squawking into his radio while the other shot sporadically.

       “Come on Riggs,” she called, laughing a little despite her irritation. Corso’s grin was infectious, even in the middle of a firefight. “Let’s take them out before they can get reinforcements over here.” A few more well-placed shots and both men went down.

       All of the color drained abruptly from Corso’s face, and Kinela instinctively flattened herself against the pillar. She took a quick look around and saw a man sauntering in their direction, seemingly unconcerned at the prospect of being shot. His pitted, greyish skin and fevered yellow eyes should have told Kinela what he was, but her brain didn’t catch up until he drew the lightsaber from his belt.  

      She snapped her head back towards Corso, to warn him not to bother shooting a Sith, but he’d already poised his rifle on top of the crossbeam. _Run_ , he mouthed, and before Kinela could stop him, he began firing. 

     The Sith whirled the lightsaber in a humming red arc, deflecting each shot easily. He didn’t even look winded as he continued to stride towards their cover. Corso stepped out from behind the crumbling wall and drew his shotgun, perhaps thinking the Sith wouldn’t be able to deflect at short range. He didn’t even get the barrel level before the Sith lifted one hand and tightened it into a fist.

     There was no visible flare of lightning or dark energy, but Kinela felt a tightening in the air, and Corso dropped his guns to claw at his neck. His body slowly lifted off the ground, his feet flailing for purchase in the air, and terrible choking gasps came from his mouth.

      Kinela’s whole body felt rigid and cold with terror. _This can’t be real._ But it was right in front of her, a Sith slowly killing Corso without even touching him. Rage overtook her then. _You can’t have him_. She hurled a flash grenade around the pillar and waited to hear the telltale high-pitched explosion before sliding out of cover. The Sith opened his eyes, recovering from the blast much quicker than he should have, but it was still enough time for Kinela to shoot him right through the forehead, and then three more times for good measure. The body crumpled to the ground. 

      Behind her, she heard Corso fall. He was on his knees and sucking in enormous gasps of air when she turned around, but he was _alive_. She didn’t realize how much her hands were shaking until she knelt beside him, and her entire body felt hot and cold at once. His neck was bruised all around, nearly in the shape of a handprint, but he flashed her a weak smile all the same.

       “Nice shot,” he said hoarsely.

       “Kriffing hell, Corso, do not do that ever again,” she snapped, hating how her voice trembled.

      “What, try to shoot a Sith in the face? Only if you won’t.” His attempt at joking trailed off into a fit of coughing, and Kinela steadied him with an arm around his shoulders. 

        “All right, all right, we’re even. It’s a promise.” She let her head drop against his shoulder with sudden weariness. “Seriously, though, don’t do that again.”

      “You gonna be ok?” Corso asked quietly.

      “Says the man who just got choked within an inch of his life,” Kinela snorted. She stood and held a hand out to pull him up. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to find that journal and be out of here.” 

      Corso squeezed her hand before letting go and walking to where his shotgun had fallen. “Lead on, Captain.” His voice was still hoarse, but he stood steadily and grinned, and Kinela’s stomach did a flip the way it did when she pulled her ship into a loop. 

     Funny how she hadn’t realized until now what it would have meant to lose him.


	2. Interlude on Taris

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After helping the scientist with the rakghoul vaccine, Kinela has developed an understandable fear of rakghouls.

      The third night in the Sinking City, Kinela couldn’t sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the rakghouls with their pale, clammy skin and needle-like teeth swarming around her. The bites on her arm still tingled from the kolto she’d slathered on earlier, and every time she woke up, she found herself rubbing at the bandage. The doctor had assured her that no infection remained in her system, but that was small comfort after all she’d seen that day. 

      It had been surprisingly easy to find the outpost quartermaster and beg a cup of kaff from him, but Kinela soon found out why - it tasted like the scrapings from a bantha’s foot, and had about the same consistency. She grimly took another sip and sat on the duracrete lip outside the open-air barracks, listening to the gentle hum of human activity throughout the camp. Floodlights cut through the dark and the men patrolling the perimeter talked quietly to one another. But beyond the boundaries of the walls, the humid air was thick with the whining of insects and the occasional screech of a hunting nexu. The fetid jungle was very much alive, and Kinela felt like it wanted to swallow her whole.

     It was hard not to stare out into the darkness, even though it sent chills racing up and down her arms. She almost didn’t hear Corso come out of the barracks and sit down next to her. “How long you been up, Captain?”

     She shrugged, pouring the rest of her sludgy kaff into the grass. “Most of the night.”

     “You feelin a little jumpy?” he asked, nodding toward her half-holstered blasters.

      “Can you blame me?” Kinela muttered, not quite meeting his eyes. “I feel like I can hear the kriffing rakghouls shuffling around out there.”

      Corso squinted into the jungle. “I’ll have to take your word for it. All I can hear is Private Brandell snoring back there.” After a moment or two of silence, he looked sidelong at her. “I didn’t know they scared you that bad.”

      “Yeah well, I could have _been_ one of them!” she said more sharply than she’d intended.

      “I never would’ve let that happen to you,” Corso said with surprising vehemence. “You have my word.”

      Kinela raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I know, I know,” he added hastily, raising his hands as if to ward off a blow. “You already said you didn’t need anyone protecting you, but I - ”

      “Corso, it’s ok,” she laughed, batting his hands down. “I was just going to say… well, that I believe you.”

      “Oh. Well, all right then,” he said sheepishly. A blush crept up his tanned cheeks. “Captain, I…” He swallowed and looked away for a moment. “I ever tell you about the time every single one of my family’s rontos escaped the pen on my first day tending them?”

       “This should be good.” Privately, Kinela was dying to know what he’d been about to say, but she was grateful for the distraction anyway. Somehow the jungle didn’t seem so menacing with Corso sitting next to her.


End file.
